Saturday, Søren Larsen made his comeback for the danish national team. In the midst of injuries to both Jon Dahl Tomasson and Nicklas Bendtner, Søren Larsen (who was called up as a backup) walked onto the field with one purpose at heart. To show the footballing world, that he injuries of his days at Schalke 04 were behind him. And he succeeded… He owned that game!

Highlights of the game along with the crunch match between Sweden-Portugal:

It was nice to see the team finally playing well together. The fight and spirit from the Portugal game was present, and it was clear that this is a team that truly believes in itself. And with Portugal’s draw away to Sweden things almost couldn’t look better after three games! We didn’t concede any stupid chances and scored three times with a team lacking a few familiar faces. Even though we probably should have scored more, I’m over the roof due to the win. And to be perfectly honest, this means more than 3 points. The nation is behind our boys again, and in these few games they’ve made people forget about the last disappointing years. We’re looking forward. Forward towards South Africa 2010. Pictures en masse, compliments of TV2.

Ratings:
Thomas Sørensen, GK: A- Probably the most boring 90 minutes for him all year. Malta was virtually a no show in this side of the pitch, but when they were, Sørensen had control of the situation. Like many of the other players, this grade was probably based on a easy background, but what the hell – we’ve got 7 points after three games. LET’S BE HAPPY!
Kasper Bøgelund, RB: A Impressed me a lot. Was instrumental in the second goal, with his offensive run up the flank. Didn’t have to take part too much in the defensive play, simply cause it wasn’t needed.
Martin Laursen, CB: A- Had an easy day, like the other defenders. Almost scored on a scissorkick towards the end of the game.
Daniel Agger, CB: A This was clearly a game Agger enjoyed. He was given the room to take part in the offence and even got to unleash a couple of thunderbolts with his left foot. After he was brought down, Agger himself, had the cool to score on the PK.
Thomas Rasmussen, LB: B Was the wekest of the 4 defenders but made some nice runs up the left flank to connect with Thomas Kahlenberg.
Daniel Jensen, CM: B+ Daniel Jensen played a good game and almost scored a couple of times, while taking a huge responsibility in building up the attack.
Christian Poulsen, CM: B A somewhat anonymous performance by Christian Poulsen.
Dennis Rommedahl, RW: A- Boy can that man run. So that’s what he does – and DID…well!
Martin Nordstrand, FW: B Nordstrand’s size might have hurt him in this game compared to the tall maltese defenceman. He was however quite a good compliment in the attack to Søren Larsen. Nordstrand being nimble and quick behind the targetman.
Thomas Kahlenberg, LW: B- Kahlenberg, was in my opinion, the weakest of the danes starting 11. I had expected more from him in a game like this. It was however good to see him back in the fold on top of his injuries.
Søren Larsen, ST: A Welcome back! Scored two beautiful goals and is a real goal poacher up front. His first is absolutely brilliant. Could have scored more – had one of the post and one giant missed sitter, but all in all delivered more then what was expected of him!

Thomas Kristensen, Sub: N/A Posession midfielder that did well when he came on instead of Daniel Jensen. Didn’t really have a chance to take part in too much.
Michael Krohn-Dehli, Sub: N/A Impressed in he few minutes he was on in the LW role.
Morten “Duncan” Rasmussen, Sub: N/A I’d rather not have “Duncan” on the field – so let’s leave it at that lol.

MOTM: Søren Larsen – without a doubt!

Click for full picture.

Wow! Does that look good or what. I’m still kicking myself for not winning in Budapest over Hungary in the first match, GRRRRR! But damn does this just look peachy. Especially considering our schedule for the next couple of qualifiers. Morten Olsen MUST be satisfied:

Next 4 games:
February 11. 2009: Greece-Denmark FRIENDLY
March 28. 2009: Malta-Denmark WCQ
April 1. 2009: Denmark-Albania WCQ
June 6. 2009: Denmark-Sweden WCQ

Let’s pickup 6 more points before the game against Sweden. That keeps us in pole position. And if we should win the next 3 qualifiers – I’m making a bold statement and sending us to South Africa in the groups first place!

I can just see the headline: “8 pm CET, on saturday night, 11 danish gladiators will head on to the freshly mowed grass of Parken in an effort to show the world that the danish NT is back! Pride, glory, and never ending amounts of respect lie ahead for those brave enough to take on the mighty footballing nation of…. uh…. Malta?”

Truth be told, if Denmark has any wish of qualifying for S.Africa, this is a game that requires three points in the bank. Considering the opposition in the first two qualifying games, Denmark has gotten off to the best start since qualifying for the EC 2004 in Portugal. However, having to bring home 3 points, and actually delivering 3 points, is often two different things. If they can bring the team that pulled off 3 insane goals in 8 minutes “The miracle in Lissabon”, it’ll hopefully be a walkover. If they show up and play like they did against Hungary, it might be problematic. With a win saturday, it is however, looking mighty fine:

Team MP W D L GF GA Pts
Albania 2 1 1 0 3 0 4
Denmark 2 1 1 0 3 2 4
Sweden 2 1 1 0 2 1 4
Portugal 2 1 0 1 6 3 3
Hungary 2 0 1 1 1 2 1
Malta 2 0 0 2 0 7 0

Them:
I’ll be honest, I dont know a whole lot about Malta’s NT. They’ve never qualified for a final tournament and with this group, this shouldn’t be the time either.

Us:
The squad as follows:

Thomas Sørensen
Jesper Christiansen
Stephan Andersen
Martin Laursen
Daniel Agger
Anders Møller Christensen
Thomas Rasmussen
Kasper Bøgelund
Christian Poulsen
Daniel Jensen
Leon Andreasen
Thomas Kahlenberg
Thomas Kristensen
Martin Vingaard
Michael Krohn-Dehli
Jonas Borring
Jon Dahl Tomassen
Dennis Rommedahl
Nicklas Bendtner
Morten Nordstrand
Søren Larsen

With the injuries in the squad, your guess is probably as good as mine, in regards to the lineup. And while that statement is not entirely true is does hold some relevance . Coach Morten Olsen has called up a good mix of trained veterans and young blood, and spiced it with a few old faces that haven’t been on the team the last couple of games… I’m looking at you Thomas Kahlenberg and Søren Larsen. Unfortunately the problem, as always, is the lack of quality backs in the danish national pool. They are so incredibly important for the succes of Olsens gameplan, and this time we are going to be without Lars Jacobsen flanking the right side. Fiorentinas experienced winger Martin Jørgensen is out with the flu, Fiorentinas defender Per Krøldrup went home from the training camp with an injured ankle and captain Jon Dahl Tomassen is supposedly out for the match as well. If I was Olsen, I’d probably use this lineup in the 4-2-3-1 system, but knowing Olsen he might mix it up real good before then:(If Jon Dahl Tomassen makes it back from his injury Id plug him in, instead of Kahlenberg)

Sørensen
Bøgelund-Laursen-Agger-Rasmussen
Poulsen-Andreasen
Rommedahl-Kahlenberg-Vingaard
Bendtner

Edit 11.October: Bendtner is supposedly also out which would give room to either FCKs Morten Nordstrand or Søren Larsen from french Toulouse FC. I’m hoping for the latter.

Projection: Denmark-Malta 2-0 (23. Bendtner, 79. Larsen)

VI ER RØDE – VI ER HVIDE!